Restaurant Week - Meal #7

Rosa Mexicana

We reluctantly headed to Rosa Mexicana Thursday night (2/1/07). We have had such lack luster Mexican food in the city, we both felt we were headed for duck carnitas and the mildest 'hot' salsa you can imagine.

We headed to Union Sq. and even managed to meet up on the express train on the way - no small feat, but we managed. The vibe was cool and crowded - lots of hipsters here. We had a OK spot for a table, it was against a wall and we could survey the rest of the space, which was good people watching. But our table was by a service area and it wobbled horribly.

As soon as we were seated we were greeted by an enthusiastic server pushing the pomegranate margaritas and table side guacamole. I agreed to the margarita (it is their speciality) and we held off on any menu decisions.

The guacamole was one of the appetizer options on the restaurant week menu - it was for two, so that would be our only appetizer. As soon as we ordered the guacamole making cart arrived. It was one avocado (a perfectly ripe Haas), too much cilantro, tomatoes, jalapeno, onions, and way too much salt. It was a bit chunky, and next time I would definitely stop the addition of the salt - it was too salty. I've never added salt to guacamole, I think it is completely unnecessary. We did manage to eat the entire bowl - but we weren't happy about it. The normal price on the guac is $14 - pretty pricey for one avocado!

My margarita was pink, but tasted like a regular margarita - I couldn't detect any pomegranate. It was tasty, but not a speciality.

Dinner came out as soon as the guac was done - the service was very intrusive. Dinner was fabulous. I had chicken enchiladas and Michael had carne asada with beans and corn tomalito. The steak was fabulous - seasoned and cooked perfectly. It was served in a small skillet with melted jack cheese and grilled onions. They also provided delicious little home made corn tortillas. His beans were really good - not refried, but whole beans with an excellent flavor. The meal also came with Mexican rice and black beans. My enchiladas were very good, but the steak was the clearly the better dish.

We finished the meal with coconut flan. Our other dessert choice was Mexican chocolate pudding with orange whipped cream - no thanks. The flan was very tasty and even someone that didn't like coconut managed to finish almost the entire portion. It was garnished by a paper thin slice of pineapple that had been cooked - it was pretty and tasty. Also on the side was a cream anglaise type sauce that had been topped with sugar and bruleed. Crispy burnt sugar is a welcome addition to any dessert.

The food was definitely better than we expected, it was a good meal and a fun place for dinner. If only the staff would slow down a little and the tables stopped wobbling.